Padi Open Water Course Abroad

DPRestoration

Hey everybody,

I am looking to do the PADI open water diver course abroad maybe somewhere around the Spain direction or similar in a few months time.

So the question is has anybody done the full course abroad and can anyone recommend somewhere not too expensive to do the course over a week or so.

I would be interested in going purely to do the course and come back qualified.

Cheers.

robertpatterson

Did mine with scubamallorca very friendly and they were the cheapest option rather than do it here

DPRestoration

How close can you stay to them or would you have to travel a bit to get to them

loctite

Travelling abroad to specifically do an intro diving course cannot be cheaper than doing it in Ireland. you may get cheap flights and accomodation, but you may not get it finished. What if the weather is bad.......

I highly doubt that it is cheaper to travel abroad to do a course.....

DPRestoration

Well I suppose bad weather could be the main f*ck up, for the price of doing it here you can get away for 5-7 days to a lot of places around the Canary islands including PADI course, flights, accommodation. So if the weather is good I can't see why I would do it here.

Benny-c

I would take a few things into consideration;

1. If you are going to that location on holiday anyway then do the course there , if not do it here over (usually)2 weekends (contact Dive Centre for details).

2. IMHO learning to dive in conditions around Ireland/Northern Europe(or similar) will stand to you as conditions are generally more difficult than (eg Med or other warm water locations).

3. If you intend to do most/all of your diving in Ireland why learn abroad(see point 2)?

4. I dont know your location, why not enquire about learning to dive with your local CFT Club or even talk to one of them.

http://www.cft.ie/clubs.htm

Good Luck

Benny

PS. I wouldn't mind a bit of warm water diving ....:D

robertpatterson

Yeah two weekends if you are lucky enough to get the weather and if youre available to do it on those weekends,not working etc.
Id definitely recommend doing it abroad and then jump in to the water in somewhere shallow and do a scuba review if you were that worried
Itll still work out cheaper and youll have had a holiday as well

loctite

Agree with Benny-C. If you are going to be diving in Ireland, do your training here. If you are only going to be a warm water diver doing the odd couple of dives a year, go abroad.
I've seen loads of divers who have learned abroad and then dived in Ireland and they have lots of difficulties with buoyancy control, the cold and restriction of movement and just being generally uncomfortable in the water .

Warm water divers are (in my experience) less likely to continue diving in Ireland and there are some seriously good dives in Ireland, just ask on this forum. Yes the canaries may be warmer, but the diving really isn't that good (again from my own experience).

GigaByte

If you intend on being a recreational diver and just go on holidays to dive then do it abroad. If you're taking it up as a hobby and want to join a club then do it in Ireland.

I learnt to dive with Stuart Cove in the Bahamas. Swimming with sharks while doing your OW tests is a BIG buzz!

Pawwed Rig

I agree with what the guys are saying about learning abroad. I have seen cases where in resorts they breeze through the material not caring too much how well you learn it. For example I did my OW (in Thailand) when I came back here my bouyancy was rubbish and I couldn't navigate until I did my advance course here.
It would be stupid to try to say that Ireland has better training but it is easier to research the good schools here than abroad (like this forum can tell you great spots in Ireland but not necessarily all the good schools in say South Africa). Find a school abroad that comes recommended by someone who knows diving and make sure you get a name of a good instructor (as I have seen large variations even withing the same dive centre). But best of all have a good holiday. You'll love it.
Hey Loctite cheers for the dive computer. Got some good use when I was diving in the Philippines over the Christmas.

Patser

I did my Open Water course in Lanzarote, but since I didn't want to spend my whole week on it and instead wanted to enjoy some holiday time I broke the course in 2. First year I simply did the Scuba course, following year went back and completed the OW course. All done with Safari Scuba based in Puerto del Carmen and a sound bunch.

However also did the Advanced course, and I did this with Burren Adventures over in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare.

So I've seen both sides to the argument about home or abroad for the courses. I'd simply agree with what the others above have said. If you're taking this up as a serious hobby, you're going to invest in all the gear etc, do it here in Ireland so as to get contacts and local expereince as much as anything. If you just want the qualification so you've something to do while on holiday, as an occasional recreation thing, do iy abroad while on holiday and enjoy the time.

galloway.jimmy@

I agree with all the other posts I done my Padi in Turkey and some dives in Spain have just come back from Austraila and dived there I would say join a club and do your CFT if your only doing PADI to be able to dive on Holiday no becaues you have to be an active diver so think again join a local club they will give you all there free time and you will then enjoy the dive's better when you have gone through all your exams.

Cheers and best of luck.

seldone

hi there . im heading to thailand for 3 weeks mid of feb .Plan to get PADI certified up to rescue diver. yee.haa ...any advice regarding diving centers in Ko Tao area.
places to stay and the sort.my mind is a jumble with the amount of diving centers there are on the net and was wondering if anyone has any first hand acounts in thailand ?looking to be as fully prepared when I begin openwater and to hit the ground running so to speak so any and all advice greatly appreicated .thank you

IamtheWalrus

seldone wrote: »

hi there . im heading to thailand for 3 weeks mid of feb .Plan to get PADI certified up to rescue diver. yee.haa ...any advice regarding diving centers in Ko Tao area.
places to stay and the sort.my mind is a jumble with the amount of diving centers there are on the net and was wondering if anyone has any first hand acounts in thailand ?looking to be as fully prepared when I begin openwater and to hit the ground running so to speak so any and all advice greatly appreicated .thank you

I did my OW and advanced there a few weeks ago. I went with Bans and I highly recommend them. Course was 5 days and cost e300 approx, accommodation included.

Niall M

i did my open water here and the advanced while on holiday in lanzarote. both were excellent but i must say i enjoyed lanzarote course more than here.

loctite

Niall M wrote: »

i did my open water here and the advanced while on holiday in lanzarote. both were excellent but i must say i enjoyed lanzarote course more than here.

Most people find the advanced a more enjoyable course full stop........ The OW is very skill intensive....... The advanced is far more enjoyable because you really get to enjoy the dives rather than fretting about skills.

Add warm water into the mix and becomes even more pleasurable....... But I promise you, it won't beat a dive on the west coast of Ireland on a good day.

Kenny_D

Did my open water in red sea in egypt with Aquarius diving. Was an amazing experience as I was the only one on the course that week and had an amazing instructor. Did my first ever dive off a really beautiful reef. Was like swimming in a fish tank and saw some really cool fish/coral. Cant wait to go back

Was like half the price of doing it here. The difference in it paid for nearly half the holiday which was great and I got to dive one of the best dive sites in the world apparently

PCPhoto

did my OW over the easter in Kerry .... I didnt even consider doing it abroad, as far as I'm concerned if you learn in hard conditions you will find everything else a breeze.

I've yet to get out there and go diving but I'm officially qualified - planning a holiday in USA in August/Sept...so hopefully gonna get a dive or two in while over in Hawaii.

Ps. Will be bringing my camera.

diverdad

Hi,
I did my OW along with my daughter abroad in Majorca for roughly the price of a single person training here in Ireland. It was very relaxed as a pool training exercise or little dive in the morning followed by a relaxing laze in the sun. Water was warm and clear which was helpful for training. The prices are cheaper abroad because there is far greater competition for dive tourists.

I did AOW in the Canaries http://www.manta-diving-lanzarote.com/
who trained my second daughter OW at 12yo. They were very patient and the diving was very good around there. Loads to see. A lovely fish filled shallow bay for first dives and exercises/tasks. I would have no problem recomending them.

Local orientation in Irish waters was provided by Oceandivers who assigned myself and first daughter a divemaster to take us through the experience. The vast majority of my diving has been in Irish waters but they can be hard and scary [ie cold and dark/poor vis]. I would feel well equiped to dive anywhere in the world after Irish waters but no doubt my bouyancy would be all over the place in warm waters again.

My own personal feeling on it is you are having a holiday abroad anyway you may as well do it over there.

locum-motion

diverdad wrote: »

...My own personal feeling on it is you are having a holiday abroad anyway you may as well do it over there.

Meh, horses for courses. I decided to learn because I was heading to Australia for the 2003 RWC, and decided I wanted to have learned before I went. And as the other poster said: "as far as I'm concerned if you learn in hard conditions you will find everything else a breeze."

bitemybanger

Started my open water course in Tenerife and couldnt finish it because of the weather. looking to do the course here in the east as that was almost 10 years ago. they are extremely expensive here compared to abroad. 600+ euro.
Im looking to do the intensive course, anyone reccomend me a dive school?

loctite

bitemybanger wrote: »

Started my open water course in Tenerife and couldnt finish it because of the weather. looking to do the course here in the east as that was almost 10 years ago. they are extremely expensive here compared to abroad. 600+ euro.
Im looking to do the intensive course, anyone reccomend me a dive school?

395 euro in Kilkee for OW course